College Lake walk.

I popped over to College Lake this morning, hadn't been there is ages. It's changed considerably since we used to go there with the boys  as 'Friends of College Lake.' Once we got the dogs it didn't seem right going for a walk without them as you can't take dogs in so our membership lapsed. Now its owned by the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). It has lost some of it's charm and everything is a bit more official, guided walks for instance have a set number that they will not exceed due to health & safety! The cakes used to be made by a couple of old ladies and were proper home made cakes that stick your ribs together, now it's Mr Kipling's airy fairy cakes, it's still an interesting place to visit for all that.
 I had a wonder round and went into a couple of hides, there's alot of Canada Geese there at present, I'm no expert but I do enjoy just gazing over the lakes, my old binoculars at the ready, I also took a few photos with varying degrees of success that I have attached here. You'll see the photo of the shepherds hut built at the John Farris foundry in Shaftesbury, Dorset, this is a real coincidence as we've had ancestors from Shaftesbury who have worked there, the foundry is long gone now of course the houses built on the site are on Farris Close as I recall.
A very pleasant couple of hours, off to the NEC in Birmingham tomorrow for a trade show until Thursday.....I can hardly wait!

General view from near the visitors centre & café.

The Octagonal Hide I'd just been in. 

Display of old farm machinery and wagons.

The Shepherds hut mentioned.

The details of where it came from, how it ended up here  don't know.

Snowdrops out already.

A few Wigeon.

Wigeon.



Arty shot of some Coot & Mallard gliding across the water.

 
 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dinners.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dinners.: Kathy came over to dinner this evening which was nice. haven't seen her in ages so it was good to catch up and all that. Just the three...

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dinners.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dinners.: Kathy came over to dinner this evening which was nice. haven't seen her in ages so it was good to catch up and all that. Just the three...

Dinners.

Kathy came over to dinner this evening which was nice. haven't seen her in ages so it was good to catch up and all that.
Just the three of us so what to cook? We've enjoyed the Rick Stein series on weekend breaks & with our minds still on wanting to go to Cadiz I chose a recipe he did from there, its called Baked Sea Bream Rota style.
It called for 3 Sea Bream, got the already gutted but with the heads left on for extra flavour whilst cooking. As usual the best recipes are usually pretty easy to make, just thickly slice some waxy potatoes & bake for 20 minutes or so, in the meantime fry onions, garlic, green peppers ,bayleaf & then some chopped & skinned tomatoes. The tomatoes ended up being one of the biggest faffs as one lot of boiling water didn't seem to split the skins so a second dowsing was needed.
While this is cooking away you need to make the Picada. In a pestle & mortar you beat the living daylights out of some fresh parsley, garlic cloves and sea salt to make a kind of paste, this is spread on and in the fish. Add to the part cooked spuds, pour the peppers, tomatoes etc over them and bake for half an hour or so. Though I say so myself it was delicious. I took the heads off prior to serving & left a plate out for the bones, there seemed to be quite a few little ones in my fish.
The good thing about this recipe was it was all in one, you didn't need anything else with it. Unfortunately in my enthusiasm in cooking and eating I forgot to take a photo so the attached is from Rick Steins recipe website, though mine looked pretty similar!
Poached pears for pud, just six small pears peeled and poached in red wine, vanilla pods, cinnamon sticks an strangely some thyme. Cooked the pears for about 35 minutes then reduced the liquor to form a syrup, all topped with cream. Another simple but effective recipe.
A very pleasant evening had by all, Kathy is very easy to talk to & we talked about all sorts though of course quite alot about Alec & Laura who we all miss greatly, sounds like they are having a great time & off pear picking shortly to top up their savings.

Similar to how my version looked but in a different bowl!

  You'll notice the title of this blog thing is 'Dinners,' the plural, that's because today I cooked a spag bol. Nothing out of the ordinary there but its another good hearty winter meal and also a meal that benefits from cooking slowly. I always add a few bits and pieces so I suppose its not  just a spag bol. Purists may be outraged! It's got peppers and carrots in & smoked paprika  a genuinely awesome find thanks to our good buddy Stanley PS! 
Basically once you've softened the onions & garlic bung everything in and cook slowly. Don't forget to add some chocolate.....Yes you read that right, chocolate it does bring out the flavour though I didn't put it in the Memsahibs version which is of course meat free, oh yes, sling in s slung of red wine as well, you know it makes sense. Cook for at least an hour, longer if you can , just on a low heat, it's no problem just give it the occasional stir. Cook up some pasta mix both together, grate some cheese over the top, a good Cheddar of course & enjoy.

Spag Bol bubbling away nicely.

Veggie spag bol  also simmering away.

Nice piece of Cheddar.

Our dinners all ready. Meat on the left veggie on the right.

All washed down with a nice glass or two of red.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The Sunday Indian

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The Sunday Indian: We had dinner with Paul & Kate today originally to be at their house but after all the problems they've had since a dickhead plumber...

The Sunday Indian

We had dinner with Paul & Kate today originally to be at their house but after all the problems they've had since a dickhead plumber cocked up a simple job and managed to flood most of their downstairs their kitchen has now been taken out and they have industrial fans and extractor units installed today to dry it all out. Its all in the hands of their insurers  & will be sorted out, but they have to get there first! Both are in very good spirits and are not downhearted much to their credit! They will of course look back and laugh once its all back in place, the plus side is the redecoration will be done to their specifications.
Away plan B was called upon so we went to Paul & Kates local Indian called the Nabab and very good it was. They have a Sunday Buffet style offering, one price and you help yourself, must admit I was pretty hungry so tucked in and forgot to photograph anything, so the attached piccy is thanks to Tara! She had a good selection to choose from as well, all washed down with a pint of Cobra. A very good meal, we'll go there again!
Back to Paul & Kates for a cuppa & general chitchat. Paul did the big Garden Birdwatch as well as already mentioned in yesterdays blog, it was interesting seeing all the Greylag geese over in the field they back onto. I must admit Paul & Kate haven't sold us the idea of staying in a bothy! They stayed in one on Exmoor over New Year. No heating, no electric but they enjoyed it. I get the idea of enjoying the solitude but not the cold, they've already booked similar for Xmas & Boxing Days this year.
Paul has suggested I go down again in May to see the dawn chorus at his local nature reserve which sounds good, discuss nearer the time, we also spoke about my ongoing pipedream of walking The Ridgeway from Ivinghoe Beacon to near Avebury (about 80 miles) and also of walking Hadrian's Wall (60 miles). Might get a few takers interested in doing it as well, or it might be like Last of the Summer Wine! Logistics is the problem, I don't want to carry a tent so would want to B&B, hostel & pub it so what sounds like a cheap outing probably isn't. Also I don't want a route march, I want to be able to enjoy what we see, maybe linger awhile, particularly on Hadrian's Wall I think,

anyway we'll see what happens.

A good day and it was great  seeing Paul & Kate.

Taras dinner of Onion bhaji, rice, veg curry, salad.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Big Garden Birdwatch

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Big Garden Birdwatch: This annual event I do in memory of my Mum really. She loved birds & I think would probably taken part in this mass bird observation ove...

Big Garden Birdwatch

This annual event I do in memory of my Mum really. She loved birds & I think would probably taken part in this mass bird observation over a weekend in January. Basically you spend an hour and see how many species and how many of that species you get in your garden. The RSPB want all sorts to take part both urban and rural, small garden to big garden the whole mix of places where birds might be.  Ours is a small garden but not very far from countryside. Results were 11x House Sparrow,1x Starling,1x Blackbird,1x Robin,1x Woodpigeon, 1xDunnock and very last minute 2x Blackcap. These were a surprise as I have never seen them in our garden before, I'm pretty sure I identified them correctly with the help of the RSPB website bird-finder. Having trouble emailing results though as  the site keeps saying there's an error, could be alot of people using it. Texted Paul & his results  were of course different , they back directly onto fields. He saw: 2x Blackbird,1x Blue Tit, 8x House Sparrow, 1x Dunnock,1x Collared Dove,1x Woodpigeon, 1x Starling. 
I've done this for the past few years & it brings back nice memories of my Mum.
Stayed away in Norfolk again this week, I stayed near Norwich, nice hotel but the Real Ale was off though I was recommended an American Pale Ale called Shed Head. It was really nice, a good fruitiness to it that I like along with a bitter after taste. An amber coloured beer and 4.6% in strength.
Dinner took the form of a very posh looking prawn cocktail with king prawns and then belly pork, cider gravy with bubble and squeak made with broccoli. Abit full for a pud so left it there, just in time to get back to my room to watch 'Winterwatch' a programme I find fascinating and very relaxing to view all about British wildlife and how they get on in winter.

Pint of Shed Head.

Prawn cocktail.

Belly pork.

 

 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: More food.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: More food.: Popped out for a bite to eat on Thursday evening to celebrate that it was nearly the end of the week, just to The Chequers, cheap & chee...

More food.

Popped out for a bite to eat on Thursday evening to celebrate that it was nearly the end of the week, just to The Chequers, cheap & cheerful and fine for all that.
No Halloumi which was a real pain as it's one of the two menu choices the Memsahib usually has so Salmon fillet it was with a sweet potato and kale salad with it , I had a Beef Yorkie Burrito, basically  roast beef wrapped in a Yorkshire pud with chips. It was nice though the Yorkshire was a little tough, how they do that I cannot imagine. Puds were a Mint Sundae for Tara and a cherry bread and butter pudding which was nice washed down with a very acceptable pint of IPA & a Bacardi & coke for T.
Always nice to get out & have some time together, it was a  good evening.

Taras dinner.

Me with both puddings.

My dinner.

   

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Turning history on it's head.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Turning history on it's head.: I went to a fascinating lecture on Wednesday evening held at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield & run by a group called 'He...

Turning history on it's head.

I went to a fascinating lecture on Wednesday evening held at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield & run by a group called 'Herts at War.' They promote history and research into Hertfordshire's part in the Great War. Tonight historian Peter Barton was to talk about the Somme. I blogged awhile ago about his brilliant BBC documentary series called 'The Somme from both sides of the wire' this talk  went into more depth than he was allowed to in the documentary and was really interesting.
For a hundred years the only accounts of the Battle of the Somme indeed most of the war have been from the allied side but there was German records, these records have never seen the light of day before now & what an account they give!
Did they know we were coming? Yes they bloody did! They listened into the many phone conversation's from the front line back to brigade & division HQ's. The Germans couldn't believe how many unencrypted  phone conversation's there were. The only fact the Germans didn't know was exactly when the attack would take place........then there's the interrogation of prisoners, though to be honest 'interrogation' is the wrong word.It sounds aggressive, in the Great War the German form of interrogation was anything but brutal, it was  making prisoners feel at ease and having a chat. British officer prisoners were walked through a section of Germans employed in drawing up to date trench maps, accidently on propose letting the officers see what they were doing. These maps were very accurate, so making the officers think-well they know everything! what difference would it make telling them the little I know?  
There are published accounts of being POW's in the Great War written by officers after the war who more or less start their account with- well of course I only told them my name ,rank and number...........a hundred years later the verbatim German accounts of their interrogations tell a different story.
I was quite shocked to see one German record of the battle order of the British for the Somme, noted on it was my own grandfathers division, brigade and battalion of the Middlesex Regiment he served in!
Barton told us these records have hardly, if at all been touched since the day they were placed in the record repositories across Germany after the Great War, in his fifteen years of researching these records he has only come across one other person interested in WW1,most historians are still fixated with the Germans of WW2.
Perhaps the most shocking facts he has come across is the British treatment of German prisoners accounts taken from Germans  who had escaped back to their own lines. Accounts of robbing German prisoners of their personal belongings & a dreadful account of a British soldier lining up five German prisoners, putting a bullet into the first & seeing it kill all five. The only other account of such barbarity I have read is of a Nazi officer doing similar to Jewish prisoners. Surely the British don't do this?  We 'play the game' don't we?  These meticulous German records seem to tell otherwise. This does make it sound like Barton was taking an anti  British stance, far from it, he was the first to recognise & salute the bravery of British & Commonwealth troops alike but there are always two sides to war, at least!
The part of the agust BBC is interesting. They commissioned Peter Barton to make this series, first called 'The Somme from the other side of the wire' not 'both sides,' to be screened around the centenary of the battle. He told them the kind of records he'd uncovered & to begin with they were very gung ho about bringing these fact to light but as the anniversary got nearer they started back peddling. First the name change then you can't say this, or that, he told us it got to the point of single words being edited out. The word 'traitor'  was not allowed even though it appeared in a British order about what to say if captured and to give information would make that soldier a traitor. There was supposed to be a book to go with the series but Barton refused to write it as the account therein would be too different to what he was allowed to say on TV. The BBC weren't best pleased with him but good for him to sticking to his guns! The BBC allowed quite a sanitised account of these incredible records, Peter Barton's lecture was warts and all. The Germans didn't think much of the leadership and soldiering qualities of the Australians for instance, Barton tells us this didn't go down too well in his lectures in Australia!
The things he has unearthed have challenged our view of not just the Battle of the Somme as these records cover the whole war but before we can really understand the full picture we need both sides accounts don't we? To get a balanced view, after all it has always been the victors who write the history books, Barton predicts it will be many many years before much of the German archive is properly understood and even longer before it is digitised, there is just no funding for any such project. He says himself that after all his research he is only slightly less ignorant now than before he started.
This lecture was a real eye opener & has I believe turned history on its head. 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Vinyl or CD's?

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Vinyl or CD's?: My first music was brought on vinyl of course, cassette tapes alittle later then CD's. With the so called renaissance in vinyl I thought...

Vinyl or CD's?

My first music was brought on vinyl of course, cassette tapes alittle later then CD's. With the so called renaissance in vinyl I thought this would be an interesting point to ponder.
 Personally I don't think vinyl will ever get back to the dizzy heights it once held, why would it? In the days of vinyl that's all there was! With the choice of how to listen to music now why would vinyl take over? I read that 40% of people who buy the new vinyl now available haven't even got the wherewithal to play the bloody records! Now just where is the sense in that? If there're looking for an investment........along with everyone else who is buying vinyl I think they're going to catch a cold. A good friend of ours has a veritable wall of sound, a wall of shelves stacked with albums, but, and here's the  important bit, these are original vinyl albums and he's got some real rarities, some real collectors items and they aren't museum pieces either, they are played at the drop of a hat though I should say they are all well looked after.
The thing you can say for vinyl albums is they you can appreciate the artwork far better than on a small CD jewel case, though bands do still seem to put alot of effort into getting a good album cover. Then there was the open gate fold album, a thing of joy! Packed full of photos or written articles or the lyrics, unless they were on the inner sleeve the album was actually contained within, and it was written so you could bloody well see it!!!  The humble CD is just too small to do justice to lyric sheets as well as artwork. Also on occasion you'd get a free poster which all added to what vinyl was  about. I think CD's sound better, I know there is a certain 'romance' so called to the crack and pop of vinyl but CD's do have a better sound quality. There was a science programme on some time ago called 'Tomorrows World' and I well remember them looking at this new way of playing music on a CD, but the big thing was you could not scratch or even break a CD. They then proceeded to throw these CD's around and still they played faultlessly............what happened there then? What happened to our indestructible CD's?
  I have a modest collection of vinyl album's, I have kept on wanting to get them out the loft and play some, my interest resurrected when Alec brought me a vinyl Quo album for Fathers Day but I still haven't. I've got about 120 albums  & similar in singles but where do I put them if they come out the loft?  I have been duplicating my vinyl with CD's as they take up less space are easier to handle and I can play them in the car, though I notice that the last two courtesy cars I've had from garages haven't had CD players in them, I suppose so many people now  store their music on devices that connect blue tooth etc.  I know you can download & store thousands of tracks  but of course you get none of the 'collateral' info and photos etc.
I should end in saying that I still enjoy buying music,& still get a real kick, a tingle of excitement when getting the latest album from  a particular band, and that hasn't changed in 38 years!  


Judas Priest 12 inch single from around 1979 I think.

The Motorhead album called Motorhead. 

In red vinyl!

Picture disc from the Sex Pistols.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Wrest Park, Chinese or French?

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Wrest Park, Chinese or French?: A really nice afternoon out with the Memsahib today. Tara had noticed that Wrest Park were doing a  special tours around rooms not usually o...

Wrest Park, Chinese or French?

A really nice afternoon out with the Memsahib today. Tara had noticed that Wrest Park were doing a  special tours around rooms not usually open to the public. They contain hand painted wall papers dating from the 17th & 18th centuries. Covered over with  false walls for donkey's years they were something of a surprise when these three rooms were stripped.
Now renovated the Chinese rooms are perhaps the more vivid and are hand painted, the French room though also very beautiful was made in a different way using wood blocks to add each colour to build up the picture. The work that went into the wall paper is breathtaking and must have taken an age to complete. My photos don't really do it justice.The house has had a checkered past, a family home and weekend residence in late 19th century, hospital during World War One and eventually offices, it's now wholly owned by English Heritage who have embarked on a twenty year project of renovation of both house and gardens to bring it back to its former glory of around a hundred years ago.
Coffee and cake beckoned after the tour. Proper cakes made on the premises  that was delicious with the added bonus of gluten and wheat free cakes as well! What's happening? Tara isn't used to a choice!
The set up at Wrest Park has changed considerably since we last visited some years ago. Some of the out buildings have been converted into a shop and café  there's a play area and outside seating for the summer, it all looks great but has perhaps lost a little something in now being too organised, I'm all for slightly disorganised and more at ease, but maybe that's just me.
We'd been toying with the idea of rejoining English Heritage for a while now, the best offer I'd seen online was 20% off with three extra months membership for going direct debit. Joining at an EH property gets you your entrance money back, this more or less worked out to the same deal as 20% off so we decided to join then and there, it's also a place Tara can walk any dog guests we have as we now have free entry. Lots of EH places around and some well worth another visit so I think we'll be quids in!
Just to mention our dear No.2 son and girlfriend.  Alec and Laura have just arrived in Australia and are on the Gold Coast about 80 miles from Brisbane. Looking forward to their surfing photos!

Chinese wallpaper

Chinese wallpaper

Chinese wallpaper



Chinese wallpaper

Tara going into next room.

View looking down the side of the grounds.

French wallparer

French wallpaper

French wallpaper

back to Chinese again.

View looking along the gardens.

Arty shot in B&W showing part of the grounds.

 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: T shirt and CD's

An idiots guide to an Idiot: T shirt and CD's: Gary and Ellie very kindly brought me an Amazon voucher for my Birthday which I'm only just spending. There are loads of CD's I want...

T shirt and CD's

Gary and Ellie very kindly brought me an Amazon voucher for my Birthday which I'm only just spending. There are loads of CD's I want both back catalogues of bands I know and new stuff. I also like a T shirt and invested in  the T pictured here from the rock band Rainbow.
It's a particularly special T shirt for me as not only was Rainbow the first rock gig I ever went to but 'Down to Earth' is my favorite Rainbow album. The tour I saw them on was of the same name and knocked my socks off. It was at the Wembley Arena and was a sell out, even the music played inbetween the bands was good, we all sung along to 'Union Man' by the Strawbs and 'All you need is love' by the Beatles and many others.
The support band were good too, called Samson they had as their vocalist a then unknown Bruce Dickinson & a masked drummer called 'Thunder stick.'
More great songs in the interlude and I bought the Rainbow album 'Long live rock n roll' in those days vinyl of course. Then it turned into the last night of the proms as 'Land of Hope and Glory' belted out of the sound system and, Bang! Rainbow took to the stage!
In my humble opinion this was the best line up of the band  which to an extent turned into Ritchie Blackmore and some session musicians as nobody ever seemed to last long!
The legendary Cozy Powell was on drums , his drum solo was awesome with the whole drum it lifting off the stage if my memory serves, Don Airey on keys just made them sing. His solo was a real mix of classical, rock  you name it he played it! Roger Glover along with Blackmore another ex Deep Purple bod kept the foundations of the band solid with a great bass line and Graham Bonnet on vocals was brilliant! Blackmore of course is a great guitarist but also a complete plonker. He threw a moody about something or other and went off after only around an hour and ten and refused to do an encore. This did end the gig on a sour note but what I'd experienced was truly brilliant, I still have vivid memories of it some 38 years later.
I read in the paper next day that there was riot  because dickhead wouldn't do an encore............Well we saw one lonely copper on our walk back to the station and definitely no riot. We'd have noticed!   
Many years later I saw Graham Bonnet on stage again, he still has a great voice ,he just looks in pain whilst stretching for the higher notes.........and the lower notes, he sang alot of Rainbow classics which brought back many happy memories of a young herbert and a couple of his mates making their way to Wembley to enjoy some great times.


Rainbow t shirt featuring the album cover of  'Down to Earth.'

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Cottage Pie.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Cottage Pie.: It's been cold and icy here so yesterday when I cooked dinner I made something hearty,and though I say so myself  a pretty good Cottage ...

Cottage Pie.

It's been cold and icy here so yesterday when I cooked dinner I made something hearty,and though I say so myself  a pretty good Cottage Pie & a veggie version for the Memsahib to keep away the winter blues.
Cottage Pie like Spag Bol is not a quick meal, not if you want a tasty dinner anyway, it does well to cook the mince slowly before adding to the mash. I always forget the difference between Cottage & Shepherds Pie but using beef mince definitely made it cottage. Fried the onions & garlic first, added the mince & got it all cooked down a bit, added smoked paprika, parsley, chilli flakes, salt,
pepper, couple of stock cubes & water also slung in some veg in the shape of chopped peppers and carrots  & later a little soy sauce, a little Worcestershire sauce  and a squirt of tomato ketchup, I would have used tomato puree but we were out of that. Tara's was cooked in the same way but with quorn mince and afew caraway seeds. Got this all simmering away nicely & did the potatoes. Just boiled as usual, not sure what make of spud they were, then all put through a ricer, a gadget that I always thought was bit of a waste of time as surely a masher is just as good, well it isn't, I always use a ricer for mash now. Brought some decadence into the mash in the shape of some cream and general seasoning. Bunged atop the mince I left it spread quite roughly so the peaks of the potatoes  would crisp up. Half an hour or so in the oven and it was ready. I enjoyed cooking it and I certainly enjoyed eating it , as did Oliver & Tara, having said she probably couldn't eat much finished the lot! A seal of approval I think!

Mince at the top and quorn below.

Quorn Cottage Pie.

Cottage Pie.

  

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Post Festivities

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Post Festivities: Here we are on 2nd Jan already, Xmas and New Year  a memory though we had alot of fun getting to here! Stirling job by Gary & Ellie to ...

Post Festivities

Here we are on 2nd Jan already, Xmas and New Year  a memory though we had alot of fun getting to here!
Stirling job by Gary & Ellie to make the Xmas Day very special, good to get a walk in on Boxing Day and a very pleasant games day on 27th at Ella and Julian's & a small but select gathering NYE.
Got lots of goodies for xmas and birthday and am currently looking at the plethora of CD's I could invest in with the Amazon voucher G&E gave me for my birthday. Do I go to fill the back catalogue of bands I know or try out  some more modern bands? Probably abit of both I think, and maybe a
t-shirt as well!
Had many nice walks with our house guest Welly and again today with Bess, though we won't look after a dog over xmas again as it does inevitably limit us on going out etc, we didn't go out Xmas Eve for instance which we have done in past years. Missed Alec and Laura of course, birthdays and xmas were very strange without them they both seem to be having fun and looking forward to getting to Australia on the 6th Jan where they have a years work permit to top up their savings as well as exploring Oz.
We are determined to get abit of guaranteed sun on our backs this year and both like the look of Cadiz in southern Spain, a historic town that amongst other things was laid siege to in the Peninsular War during the Napoleonic era so will investigate getting there. The Memsahib has at last applied for her new passport so we can take it from there.
Enjoyed just chilling and pottering about. I do enjoy a good potter.
No luck on the lottery again so its back to the grind tomorrow. I can hardly wait!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Christmas

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Christmas: Gary & Ellie kindly invited the family to their place for Xmas Dinner & what a feast they laid o  for us! It was good to meet Ellies...

Christmas

Gary & Ellie kindly invited the family to their place for Xmas Dinner & what a feast they laid o  for us! It was good to meet Ellies Dad James & his partner Sue, also Ellies sister Izzie, Ella & Julian, Olly & Laura, Beren,Tim and us.
They had worked really hard to make their house very festive with a great looking tree and a very tastefully decorated table. There was loads to drink and eat, instead of turkey they went for leg of mutton with garlic and rosemary  and a cockerel rather than chicken, Gary had prepared stuffed peppers for Tara.  Loads of veg, roast potatoes, parsnips carrots, cauliflower cheese, pigs in blankets and all delicious. They had worked extremely hard and  their efforts paid off handsomely, we were all so full that the puds never came out. They Gary made cocktails , a coffee martini..........very nice, very potent, not many folks were drinking them , so Gary & I did.......... I should have stuck to beer!  A really good day , missing Alec & Laura of course  but we spoke Xmas Eve & Alec phoned again Xmas Day. Enjoyed meeting Ellies Dad & partner, they are very easy people to get along with. Gary and Ellie gave us a faultless day, they thought of everything, enjoyed it immensely.   

  

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Status Quo.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Status Quo.: I was genuinely shocked and sadden to hear that Rick Parfitt, one of the original members of Quo  died yesterday. I have been a Quo fan for ...

Status Quo.

I was genuinely shocked and sadden to hear that Rick Parfitt, one of the original members of Quo  died yesterday. I have been a Quo fan for around 38 years & had the privilege of seeing Rick with them on 4 occasions ( saw them again just two weeks ago though Rick had already retired from the band by then). Influenced by my friends back then as to what direction my musical tastes took it was always going to be rock (and Punk!) and I was instantly hooked on Quo.
You could never leave a Quo gig downhearted, their music was always uplifting and great fun,
 there have been many jokes about their 3 chord riffs but those 3 chords seem to have worked for them over the past fifty or so years! Always a sense of humour they actually released an album a few years ago called 'In search of the fourth chord,' the cover al la Indiana Jones!
Rick appeared to have lived the life of a rock 'n' roll star with all its drink & drug excesses so perhaps 68 is old for a rocker! Some xmas his family will have this year. As I write this there has been no statement yet from his old side kick Francis Rossi, maybe he is still just too distraught.
'The end of an era' is a much hackneyed phrase but today it rings true.
There'll never be another.

A journey from hell saved by The Quo!

Two and a half bloody hours to drive 43 miles from home to the 02!
Set the postcode on the satnav and got taken on a journey through the arse end of London, by the time we were there I thought my ears were going to explode through frustration!
I told Tara & Julian that if I ever suggest driving to the 02 again they have my full permission to kick me up the arse good and proper.
And relax...........Found a pub, pint of Doombar, remembered why we'd travelled to the 02 & all was well again.
Quite an early start to this gig, the first support came on at around 6.40pm, they were called The Lounge Kittens, three birds in short skirts & pink high heels, warbled abit then buggered off............that's a bit unfair, they were very good! They did acapella type singing, mostly rock covers, AC/DC et al with key board accompaniment. They were good fun & had the audience behind them, such as were there for the first support anyway! Given a smaller venue I think they'd be good to see again, something a bit different.
Not a bad seat all things considered, we were tucked in to the right of the stage, quite near the stage but high up, any higher & we'd have had nose bleeds, no big screens which was surprise, they are usually the only way of identifying who is actually on stage!
The second support are a band I've always liked called REO Speedwagon, I suppose  they would have once fallen into the category of 'middle of the road' rock, soft rock if you like. They were very good, but Tara said she thought singer, Kevin Cronin sounds like Kermit the Frog, when he spoke anyway!
Then about 8.45pm the mighty Quo hit the stage! This tour is called 'The end of the electrics' as they are hanging up the electric guitars in favour of acoustic but we'll see!
They were of course brilliant playing all the old barnstormers and very little from more up to date albums, nothing from 'Bula Quo' for instance which was definitely a good thing! (You know me, I have always been a huge Quo fan ever since I first got into music around 38 years ago, cut me in two & there'd be 'Status Quo' written through me, but they just shouldn't release any more studio albums!)
Loud enough to cover my dodgy singing I was able to give  vent to such classic Quo tracks as 'Caroline,' 'Roll over lay down,' 'What you're proposing', 'Whatever you want' and of course 'Rockin' all over the world.'
Always good value they played for about two hours, Francis Rossi hasn't lost any of his musical ability as Julian remarked. Tara noticed that strangely he did not mention his old sparing partner Rick Parfitt who has had to retire due to health problems, they've played together in Quo for something like fifty years so you'd think he'd have said something about his old mate,  nor was there any kind of thanks to the support bands as you might expect from the headliners & is usual with other bands.
However that does not detract from the great evening we had. I ummed & arred about getting a t shirt as they were £25, alot I think for a t shirt. Julian had already decided to get one & I then had second thoughts & succumbed! We nearly didn't end up with them as we didn't get them until after the gig and two of the kiosks selling them were out of what we wanted so we had to go the main  sales point near the 02 entrance.
While we were queuing Tara had the great delight of watching some big jessie getting  her knickers in a twist as she couldn't find her husband. On being comforted  by a member of the 02 staff Tara heard her ask this idiot what her husband was wearing, she didn't know! Has he got a mobile? Yes. Have you phoned it? No. Why don't you then? Some people  shouldn't be let out on their own!
The gig wasn't a sell out of the 02 as most of the  back of the arena was either empty of curtained off but given the capacity  of the 02 being 20000 I reckon there must have been a good 12 to 15000 there, anyway we left the arena happily clutching our new t shirts and made our way to the car park. Traffic was pretty well grid locked as there was alot of people trying to get away. Tara had wisely thought to pack us some victuals  which we tucked into, by the time we'd finished the traffic had cleared and we sped away, this time I just followed the signs for Bethlehem...... not really, the M11,  then I knew where I was . We got home in an hour!  It was a terrific gig!


Lounge Kittens set list.
Who Are You
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Africa
Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Isle Of Wight Festival 2016 Medley


REO Speedwagon set list.
Don't Let Him Go
Take It on the Run
Keep Pushin'
Can't Fight This Feeling
Son of a Poor Man
Time for Me to Fly
Back on the Road Again
Ridin' the Storm Out
Keep On Loving You
Roll With the Changes


Status Quo set list.
Caroline
The Wanderer
Something 'bout You Baby I Like
Rain
Softer Ride
Beginning of the End
Hold You Back
What You're Proposing / Down the Dustpipe / Wild Side of Life / Railroad / Again And Again / Paper Plane
The Oriental
Creepin' Up on You
Gerdundula
In the Army Now
Drum Solo (The Caveman)
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockin' All Over the World
Encore.
Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)
Rock and Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon

Status Quo

Status Quo

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